Benzopyran Patent Application

Good news.

On 26 March 2015, the Australian Patent Office in a written opinion said that Novogen's first benzopyran patent application was both novel and inventive with respect to prior art, and specifically in relation to cited Intellectual Property held by Marshall Edwards (e.g. earlier technology developed by Novogen but assigned to MEIP, which the 'new' Novogen was forbidden to use - from memory - for five years) - with no caveats that I could see.

This is a preliminary opinion, as any Contracting State may apply additional or different criteria for the purpose of deciding whether, in that State, the claimed invention is patentable or not; but it is a bloody good start.

Among other things, the application describes in-vitro and in-vivo results with various compounds - good reading for masochists.  Potential competitors can now see the design and method of manufacture of these drugs, but it looks as though Andrew Heaton has been able to construct a virtual moat around Novogen's new Intellectual Property.

There was always a nagging worry in my mind that the benzopyran drugs of the 'old' and 'new' Novogen may have patent overlap and that MEIP may have been able to lodge a valid objection.  This opinion, from an international authority, suggests otherwise.